BILL JUSTIS - RAUNCHY

"Raunchy" was the birth of the first Rock n' Roll instrumental song.

Bill Justis upon hearing that a certain Rock n' Roll musician made a lot of money, put down his trumpet for a saxophone, bought $80 of Rock n' Roll records, and set his sights on stardom. His May "57 hit "Raunchy" gets it's title from a magazine article on current teenage slang. Justis and Manaker concocted the song in Justis' home while making fun of Rock n' Roll, convinced that they too could do it well if only they tried.  Bill Justis was older than most teenage Rock fans, and had little interested in Rock as a musical style. However he soon realized that Rock's basic and simple sound was actually harder to achieve then first thought. "Raunchy" became the first Rock n' Roll instrumental song.

"Raunchy " was a little Southern tune that Justis' just couldn't get out of his head. Originally named "Backwoods" it was a tune that he recalled from his childhood in Birmingham, Alabama.

There was nothing sophisticated about "Raunchy" - teenage slang for dirty or messy - which came out in November, 1957. It consisted of Sid Manker playing a short guitar riff over and over, alternating with Justis on tenor sax leading the Sun house band. The only thing remarkable about the recording was the riff and the unorthodox way Manker played it. Rather than play in the middle string range, as most rock and country guitarist would, Manker used the bass strings, further exaggerated by the studio echo.

"Raunchy" shot up the Billboard charts, just missing becoming #1 and staying in the Top 40 for fourteen weeks. The record became a classic, one of rock's first true instrumentals.

Unlike other Sun artists, Justis was well educated, from a well to do family, and had formal musical training. In 1957 Justis became music director for Sun, arranging hits for Cash, Lewis and Rich. Justis eventually left Sun after a fight with Phillips, and for a brief time produced for his own label Play Me Records.  He moved to Nashville in 1961 and became a successful arranger and producer for everyone from Ronnie Dove to the Dixiebells. Before his death from cancer in 1982, Justis wrote the musical scores to Burt Reynolds film "Smokey and the Bandit", and later produced major hits for Bobby Vinton

Very much following in Bill's footsteps, rock and roll's best selling instrumentalists, Duane Eddy scored a series of pop hits between 1958 and 1963 that featured a deep "twangy" sound produced by playing the guitar's bass strings. I wonder where he got that idea from......

 

DISC DETAILS

UK LONDON HLS 8517 10" 78rpm SHELLAC

A Side:  RAUNCHY

B Side:  THE MIDNIGHT MAN

 CONDITION IS RATED  EX- / V+ 

 

TWO CLASSIC ROCKING GUITAR SIDES 

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